Heritage Harbour assessments remain stagnant

Supervisors on the Heritage Harbour South Community Development District have kept assessments for residents of Stoneybrook and Lighthouse Cove stagnant in the upcoming fiscal year, but warn that they must start planning better for the future.

CDD supervisors on Aug. 2 approved a new operating budget of $413,000. The figure translates into slight reductions — from a few cents up to about $17 per household — in CDD assessments. Total assessments, including for debt service, range annually from $210 for townhomes to $1271 for the largest homesites.

Although two residents spoke against reserves of about $170,000 accumulating in the budget, District Manager Greg Cox and supervisors agreed the surplus is needed to fund the district's monthly expenses and in case of emergency repairs or necessary un-budgeted expenses.

“That’s a very minimal amount we advise people to keep for a district this size,” Cox said. “We have several months of the year where we don’t have assessments coming in. I wouldn’t recommend going lower than that.”

Supervisors have asked to find a way to make allocations for surplus dollars to be more specific so residents will know for what the money is being saved. 

“We’d like more specifics within the budget,” Supervisor Tad Parker said.

“If we’re going to run a good business, we’re going to run it to a budget,” Chairwoman Michelle Patterson added. “We don’t want to burden residents with the ‘What-ifs?’ over the next 10 years. Businesses don’t run with a ‘what if?’ fund.”

But Supervisor Richard Lane said the district needs to start looking beyond five years because road repairs and other expenses will begin to drive up costs for residents at that time, if the board is not proactive in planning for those costs.

“I think what we are doing is intelligent,” he said.

The CDD is undergoing a reserves study that will detail the timeline and costs associated with repairing roads and other community infrastructure. Florida Reserves Study and Insurance Appraisals will complete the $3,000 study on behalf of the CDD and Heritage Harbour Master Association, the developer-controlled master homeowners association for Heritage Harbour.

Cox said results of the study should be complete prior to the board’s September meeting.